Owen was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma two weeks into his senior year of high school.  A mystery bump on his outer ear turned out to be the unimaginable.  Owen was running varsity cross country, and he was in the best shape of his life.  In fact, he placed in the top 10 of a race eight days after his diagnoses.  

 

There are a lot of big plans and fun memories associated with senior year.  But we suddenly went from planning for homecoming to planning for chemo.  Wanting the best race time was replaced with wanting the best scan results.  

 

Owen received 12 rounds of chemo before having his tumor resected in December.  He completed 23 rounds of proton radiation and even more chemo.  There were so many hospital stays, blood transfusions, mouth sores and random side effects from the chemo.  

 

But through it all he stayed focused on school, completing AP coursework and applying to college.  He was missing a lot of high school milestones, but his friends and his twin brother did their best to include him.  Owen's biggest request was to be treated as "normal," and we will be forever grateful to the teachers, staff, friends and family who did just that.  He missed prom and all the senior year festivities, but Owen was well enough to cross the stage at graduation.  

 

Owen completed his final (36th round) of chemo and rang the bell on August 19th, 2024.  He started college 8 days later, cancer-free.  We are approaching his one-year post-treatment scans with hope.  There is always so much hope. 

​